"smosh" posted with a question on how to get frames adjusted -- even plainly stating that he didn't want to "resort to subterfuge" again:

a couple of years ago I bought a pair from framesdirect.com - at thatpoint I saved $350 or so...from $600 down to $250. My ears areslightly different heights, so the earpieces always have to be bent.I took the framesdirect.com glasses to my optometrist and passed themoff as sold by another of their locations (i had seen the frames therefirst, then started googling, leading to framesdirect.com)

I want to buy another pair, but I don't want to resort to subterfugeto have them adjusted.

So what do people do?

The people of the GlassyEyes forums had a number of helpful suggestions including "deborah's" experience:

I plan to take mine to the optometrist who prescribed my lenses. Itold him what I was doing, and he said that of course I could (anddefinitely should) bring them in to have the prescription tested andto have them adjusted.

At this point "adameyeball" chimed in with the smugness and vitriol we've seen so often by a number of people "connected" to this industry.

Here are the highlights (with my responses in blue):

> deborah i have a better idea for you. why don't you lay your glasses> on the computer and have the computer adjust them. thats what you> signed up for when you bought glasses online.

Or she could do exactly what she said she was going to do and take them to her optometrist who is apparently more interested in the vision of his patients than in moving his "100 thousand dollars worth of frames". Look in the mirror, adameyeball. Really look.

> need a screw replaced, ask the computer to do it since the reason i> charge a higher price is that i have customers who pay for that> service (they get unlimetd adjustments and service).

Or you could just pick up an eyeglass repair kit for like a buck and fix it yourself. Or ask a professional and offer them a few bucks for the trouble. I guess I wasn't aware that optometrists worked on a retainer basis. Even my worst pair of frames from a brick and mortar store only needed to be adjusted 3 or 4 times (before they broke on my face). I'd guess that was less than 15 minutes of time in the "unlimetd adjustments and service" (I don't normally call out spelling and punctuation, but you kind of deserve it). By your logic, and the price difference, that works out to more than $1200/hour for adjustments. Um, I'll pass.

> please don't come into my office trying on frames and trying to get the model> number ,instead try them on virtually online.

That's a fantastic idea. Optical4Less and EyeBuyDirect offer excellent "virtual try on" systems. They do a pretty good job with the technology.

> why should i expect to service a product you didn't purchase from me> for free! would you go in and ask them to fix the watch you bought> online for free??

You shouldn't -- and if it's your store, feel free to be a dick about it. The other option is charge a fee. $5? $10? You might make enough for lunch for you 2 minutes of time.

> so go save a hundred dollars and buy your glasses> online just remember not to come into my office not to get them> adjusted .

Please let us know where you are so we can "remember not to come into [your] office". If I'm not mistaken, it's a little place in Park Slope? I would hate to have anyone "wasting your time".

FWIW, I have the same issue with one ear higher than the other and I just give my frames a gentle twist. Works every time (unless we're talking titanium -- and then there is a need for more "physical" measures).

If there are any illustrators out there, I'd love an "angry optometrist" image to pop into articles such as this.

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3
comments:

Yeah, people tend to get angry when their lucrative business model evaporates underneath them, particularly one that's been viable for hundreds of years.

Welcome to my world. I'm a computer programmer. I need to learn new skills on a *weekly* basis to stay competitive, and have to compete with people in India, China and everywhere else in the world. Much of the software I "compete" with is given away free.

Adapt or die. There are *huge* business opportunities in this sort of rapid change, if optometrists can't see them then they should get some glasses. Maybe from China, you can buy them online cheap!

And it's that attitude that always peeves me off about the industry. A smart person would wholly embrace the online vendors and offer ala carte services and adjustments. Heck, I'd have computers in my store for people. Maybe even offer warranties or discounts on replacements for lenses and frames bought online. I'm sure you could come up with a business model that would be sucessful doing that. You could have a partnership with onlinesellers.

At least try something and don't get mad at me because you're not meeting my needs as a customer with your outdated business model.

Hee hee! I can see the guy sitting at his computer fuming. If he can't adapt, he'll be left behind. For example as a photographer, I used to keep all of a client's negatives and sell them individual prints. Now that anyone who owns a scanner or can walk (or roll) up to a photo kiosk can copy those pricey prints, I just mark up my session fee and give them all the digital images on a CD. I'm not sitting at my computer typing angry messages at scanner companies.

Saving the WorldfromOverpriced Eyeglasses!

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